Again
by ShiroiKarasuX
Summary: After reuniting with Ling, Greed had known a few things. For example, who the prince was and that they'd been together for some time. He was just happy they were together again and so was Ling. But what will happen when a threat shows up in the North?
1. Chapter 1

When Ling opened the doors, he saw the room he had visited a lot in his nightmares. It was big, high and a beam of sunlight reached the floor through a big hole in the ceiling. He felt a light breeze and a shiver crept up his back.

 _'You know, people normally reject me.'_

 _'You're talking tot he future emperor of Xing, monster. I am no normal man. My heart is large enough to hold twenty or thirty of you!'_

 _'Hahaha! Well, I do like how ambitious you are. Just don't try and change your mind.'_

Determined, he set foot in the room. Water splashed up under his feet. It had to be here. It just had to. Many nights, the thoughts of him had kept Ling awake. He needed him. He couldn't live without him.

 _'I need this power. I need it to protect. To fight for my people and to take my place as ruler! And I accept all of the risks!'_

 _'Your avarice is certainly appealing. But let's see if your stomach matches your appetite. Can you handle this?'_

The Philosopher's stone Father had given him had emerged with Ling's blood. It had been a liquid and father had foreseen everything. He hadn't given Ling all of it. No, he was sure of that fact.

 _'Those memories aren't a part of me anymore!'_

 _'No, you're wrong Greed! It's not that easy. They'll always be a part of you. You can't just erase them from your soul. They were the only part of you that you chose! Look at them. Can you not hear their souls crying out? You abandoned them. Your real family! You threw them away like trash! Fool. If you turned your back on something you wanted, you do not deserve to call yourself Greed!'_

He felt the cold metal of Father's chair under his hands and started searching the place. Frantically, he looked beneath loose floor tiles and in rusty pipes but didn't find anything. When he stood up after a while, he bumped his head on something that had looked like a metal plate. Now, however, he saw that it was, in fact, a small door. After prying it open, what seemed to take an eternity, he revealed what was behind it. It was a small space with only one object: a little bottle with a red liquid.

 _'Fight him, Greed!'_

 _'Let go, dumbass! You're gonna be dragged in with me!'_

 _'No way! I'm not letting you go that easily. I need you with me if I'm gonna be emperor.'_

 _'Just let go! My entire being was extracted from his greed and the power that's trying to reclaim me is a hell of a lot stronger than your body!'_

 _'You can't just give up! I won't let go!'_

Ling didn't hesitate and cut his hand. Feaverish, he opened the bottle and poured the liquid on the freshly made wound. It dissappeared under his skin almost immediately. A laugh escaped him and echoed in the enormous space. He heard the sound of glass breaking and noticed he'd dropped the bottle at the same time as his legs gave way under him. He recognized the feeling. It hurt, but it didn't matter. There was only one thing that mattered now.

 _'Wait, Greed. No, wait! Don't do this!'_

 _'Later.'_

For a moment, he didn't know where he was. All around him was sound. Voices? Or just white noise? He opened his eyes and everywhere he could see was red, movement, faces, but nothing coherent. He recognized it instantly.

 _'You gave me everything I could want. Thank you... and goodbye.'_

Looking around, hoping to see a familiar face, he heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere. His heart skipped a beat.

'Hey pissant, long time no see.'

 _Alright, this was my first try at a fanfiction. Now I just need a storyline XD_

 _Do you want a Greed x Ling, a GreedLing x reader or maybe somehing else?_

 _Also, (as you probably noticed) English isn't my native language. Please, feel free to give me feedback and correct my mistakes. I'd appreciate it._

 _3_


	2. Chapter 2

'Hey kid, you alive?'

Maybe he would move if Greed poked him.

'Leav'me 'lone,' the young man murmured, almost inaudible above the cold, howling wind. A storm was coming.

 _'_ _Wait a minute, is that..?'_ Greed heard Ling mumbling as well and tried to take a closer look at the injured guy before him. He seemed to be clutching his hand at his side and his left leg was missing. However, it didn't take a second look to tell that it hadn't been an ordinary leg: the carbon was scattered all over the place. Automail. So that meant –

'Edward!' That brat took over so quickly.

 _'_ _Dammit Ling, calm down! He's not dead.'_ Yet. It looked like his side was bleeding pretty bad and the snow around him was slowly turning red. They didn't have time to stop the bleeding, though. If they wanted to survive this storm, the first thing they needed to do was to find shelter. What was that kid doing up here in the North?

'Edward, can you hear me?' Careful not to cause him any further pain, Ling tried to help him sit up.

This time, only a soft moan escaped the boy's lips. Shit. They were out here in the middle of nowhere and if they wouldn't be able to find shelter soon, they'd all freeze to death.

 _'_ _Didn't we pass an abandoned house about two kilometres back? How about waiting there until this storm's over?'_ Although he didn't like going back the way they'd come from, it didn't look like there were any other options.

Ling had hoisted Edward up his shoulders and was already walking towards where he thought the house would be. The wind was increasing and caused the snow to whirl around them, making it harder to move forward. Edward wasn't making any sound and Greed almost began to worry if the little runt wasn't dead. Almost.

By the time they'd reached the house, which was little more than four walls and a roof that looked like it could collapse any moment, they were cold to the bone and although Ling was in control for the time being, Greed was freezing as well. Unfortunately, inside wasn't any better and it didn't take long before they got a fire started, thanks to the lighter Ling had found in one Edward's pockets.

 _'_ _Sure seems to be knocked out cold,'_ Greed stated. _'Pun intended.'_

'This is not the time to joke around,' Ling snapped. 'I need to stop the bleeding. Since there aren't any bandages around here, I'll use my shirt.'

 _'_ _Hey, it's cold enough_ with _a shirt on! I'm not planning on freezing to death, you–'_

'We can regenerate,' Ling interrupted, anger creeping into his voice. 'My friend is dying, so either help me or shut the hell up!'

Surprised by the sudden outburst, Greed did, indeed, shut up. This side of Ling reminded him of a conversation with Wrath, a long time ago. When he'd told him about Ling's 'naïve' theories about ruling a country, Ling had his first real breakthrough, telling him not to underestimate humans. He'd surprised even Greed with that outburst, although the Homunculus hadn't admitted that, of course.

Having been lost in thought, he looked up to see Ling binding Edward's side wound. It appeared to have been pierced through by something clean and, moreover, something incredibly sharp. There were no signs of infection or any dirt to be found. Whatever it had been that had injured the kid, it had been dangerous.

Pointing it out to Ling now would only stress him. Besides, he needed his focus on Edward at the moment if the kid wanted to make it out alive. Greed would keep an eye out for anything he thought suspicious.

'Hey, Edward? Look at me. Stay focused.' Ling used a stern, but friendly voice.

His eyes slowly opening, Ed murmured: 'Ling?'

Alright, so the kid was still responsive. That was a good thing. He was wincing at every little adjustment Ling made to his improvised bandages, though. He looked like he was going to pass out, the colour drained from his face.

'That's right, Ed. Can you tell me what happened?'

Ed began shaking his head, changing his mind immediately as it felt like his head was going to explode and let out a short, ragged breath. 'It was d-dark. And it hurt. I-I…'

He grunted, closing his eyes again, seemingly frustrated. 'I can't… remember clearly. That d-damned – ARGH!'

'Sorry! Sorry! I have to clean this or it will get infected.' Ling, wincing almost as much as Edward did at his cry of pain, quickly finished wiping the blood of Ed's side.

 _'_ _That damned what?'_ Greed asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

'I think we should give him some time to recollect himself before we ask any further,' Ling muttered under his breath.

'Wha?' Edward, who was on the verge of passing out again, didn't look like he was actually listening, let alone was he expecting an answer.

'It's nothing. Get some rest, Ed.'

The kid didn't even seem to hear Ling anymore. To Greed, or to himself, Ling said: 'Looks like we'll be stuck out here for a while.' He was right. The storm hadn't even reached its peak yet and it was already hard to be able to hear each other, due to the howling wind. Of course, for Greed and Ling this wasn't a problem.

 _'_ _So, what do you think? Will he make it?'_

'Yeah, but he needs to get to a hospital as soon as this storm is over. I wonder what caused that wound though. Didn't look like a normal stab wound,' Ling replied, making himself comfortable against the wall opposite of Ed's. Both were quiet for a moment.

 _'_ _Is it just me or are we thinking the same thing?'_

'No, I bet we do,' was Ling's answer. He frowned. 'Ed found him before we did.'

A grin crept on Greed's face. _'How convenient.'_

* * *

 _'_ _Alright, who are you?'_

 _'_ _He has to be! You are mister Greed, but how can you look like someone else?'_

 _'_ _I asked you who you are. Now, tell me!'_

 _'_ _It's me! I'm your friend, Bido! You haven't been gone from Dublith long enough to forget!'_

 _'_ _Oh, you're from Dublith! Ah, now it makes sense.'_

 _'_ _You remember me?'_

 ** _Slash_**

 _'_ _Afraid not.'_

* * *

Greed jolted awake, gasping for air, the nightmare fresh in his mind.

 _'_ _Still bugging you, huh?'_ Ling spoke.

'Fuck off. It's none of your business.'

 _'_ _Of course it is. I'm seeing it too, remember?'_

Greed didn't answer. The prince knew as well as he did that these kind of nightmares were routine every night. He didn't actually need sleep, but for some reason… he wanted to dream this. He wanted to remember. More memories came were coming back every night. Memories of the first time he'd died, the second time, the time he'd first met Ling. They weren't all bad, though. He also remembered teaming up with Edward, realising that he'd just wanted some friends, defeating Father…

 _'_ _You know, this was actually the first time you remembered again. Man, you had such a mental breakdown,'_ Ling interrupted his train of thought.

'Huh?'

 _'_ _After you'd taken over my body the first time, you didn't remember anything from your first life. After, you know… all that, you began remembering again, just like you're doing now.'_

'Huh.' That made sense. After reuniting with Ling, he'd known a few things. For example, who the prince was and that they'd been together for some time. It was like part of the philosopher's stone they were using now had been connected to the other one somehow. By energy, maybe. Greed had given up trying to figure that out. He was just happy they were together again and so was Ling.

 _'_ _Is that all you have to say?'_ Ling asked, startling him once again.

'Huh?'

He heard a chuckle. _'Never mind. Seems like all of this is getting to you, eh?'_

'Sure. Just shut up already.'

* * *

Greed opened his eyes.

 _'_ _What is it?'_

He'd heard something. He stood up to check if there was a possible threat outside. Glancing at Edward, he saw the kid was still out, although the colour had returned to his face and his breathing was steady. Good.

He strained his ears, were those…? Yes, footsteps. Because he didn't want to give the possible enemy the idea he was weak or inferior, he decided to just step out and face whoever was out there.

He had not expected to see a man ploughing through the snow on crutches, accompanied by a rather big guy and a rather small guy. They were all in military uniform.

'Well, Havoc, looks like that thing isn't abandoned after all,' the big one said grumpily.

'Hey, you! Can you give us a hand here? We're freezing!' Yeah, figures if you go out in a snowstorm.

 _'_ _Hey, aren't those Mustang's men?'_

'I think you might be right,' Greed muttered, opening the door for the three men. Speaking up, he said: 'I think we've got what you're looking for. A certain pipsqueak I suppose?'

The man who'd been called 'Havoc' burst out laughing, looking relieved. 'Yeah, that's him all right.'

His demeanour changed, becoming more serious upon seeing Greed's darkened expression. 'Is he okay?'

'He'll make it.'

That didn't seem to satisfy the man, who was frowning by now.

'Just come in already, we're losing warmth with the door open.'

The men, stomping the snow off their boots, made their way in, welcoming the heat from the fire. Havoc immediately sank down to Edward, who seemed to have woken up by all the commotion. In hushed voices, they began talking to each other. Greed decided to leave them alone and focus on the others.

'So who are you?' the big one asked. 'You seem familiar.'

 _'_ _What are you going to tell him? Should I take over?'_ That may be for the best. They didn't want to alarm them by telling the men he was a homunculus they thought dead. Ling quickly took over.

'I'm Ling Yao. I believe we fought together last autumn.' Seriously, how did he manage to sound so happy?

'Oh, shit. You mean you were that homunculus guy?'

'That's me.'

The small guy nervously pushed his glasses further up his nose and spoke: 'Well, sir, we're very honoured to meet you, ehm… again. I'm Fuery, sir.'

'I'm Breda. Say, then weren't you supposed to become emperor or something?'

'Indeed! And I'm still planning to,' Ling added happily. With Ling chatting away, Greed's attention turned inwards. Emperor. He said he could make do with it, but if he actually wanted it was a whole different matter. He liked how things were right now. Just Ling and him. Well, most of the time then, when they didn't have to care for little brats like Ed. Well, he wasn't that little anymore, actually. And although Greed didn't want to admit it, he liked the company. Reminded him of the time when they'd teamed up. Yeah, he could hold out for a while longer with these guys.

* * *

 **Alright, this took me pretty long to write, mainly because I underestimated writing in English. I know this is probably full of grammar mistakes. I really enjoy writing, though, and I'll be continuing this story as soon as possible. I still don't know who is going to end up with who (maybe no pairings at all?) and I need to think of a better title, because GreedLing obviously isn't a good one. I'm planning not to include any OC's, unless I really have to (or unless you want to ;))**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter, and thank you for reading this one!**

 **XxX**


	3. Chapter 3

'Three days, huh? It's a miracle you guys haven't been frozen to death,' Ling remarked, as chipper as ever.

'Well, if it wasn't for master sergeant Fuery, we would've,' Havoc said as he went through his pockets, probably looking for another cigarette. 'One of his radio-things caught fire. We couldn't get one started in that storm and I've lost my lighter, you see?'

'A-actually,' Fuery began, pushing his glasses further up his nose, 'the antenna of my radio broke because of the frost, so the transmitter dissipated too much power and overheated–'

'Yeah, that's basically what I said,' Havoc interrupted, sticking his found cigarette in the fire in front of him before putting it between his lips. The smell dominated the room within a few seconds.

 _'_ _Secondhand smoke kills, you know?'_ Ling heard Greed mutter his head. _'It's far worse than the fumes you inhale directly…'_ He seemed to reconsider. _'Not that we have to worry about that.'_

'Anyway,' Havoc continued, oblivious to Greed's presence, 'the point is that we can't contact headquarters in our current situation, so we're going to head back as soon as possible. Right, chief?'

'As long as it's warm, it's fine with me,' Ed mumbled, wrapped in Breda's coat and sitting against the wall closest to the fire. He'd slept for a few hours and most of the color had returned to his face.

'You will be going tomorrow morning then?' Ling guessed, leaning back to let Fuery pass, who murmured something about going to sleep before joining a snoring Breda on the other side of the room.

'Yep. As soon as the sun's up. General expected us to report over the radio a few hours ago, so he's probably worried sick. He'll want our reports as soon as we're back,' Havoc grimaced.

'Sounds like Mustang alright,' Ed grunted. 'Stupid reports. It's as if he _wants_ more paperwork, just so he can complain about it to Hawkeye.'

Havoc chuckled. 'That's probably the exact reason why.' He stood up, using his crutches to support his weight. 'I'm turning in. Have to get some rest before carrying you' – he pointed at Edward – 'all the way back to central.'

'Carry me? You can't even carry yourself! And who says I can't walk back on my own?!' Ed's volume rose with every syllable.

'Shush. You'll wake the guys . You can't walk without your automail. Besides, I'm stronger than I look.' Havoc winked and joined Fuery and Breda, who were already fast asleep. A few minutes later the only thing you could hear were evened breaths, a crackling fire and the storm outside.

* * *

'Hey, Ling.' It was little more than a whisper, but it clearly came from Ed. Ling scooted over to him, trying to make as little sound as possible to not wake the others.

'Can't sleep, Ed?' he whispered.

'Could ask you the same thing.'

 _'_ _He's right, you know,_ ' Greed pointed out. Like he wanted to sleep right now, have a nightmare, or worse, flashback and wake up with Greed in control. No, thanks.

'I know,' Ling nodded, not sure whom he was talking to. Ed didn't seem to pay much attention to his response, though, and got straight to the point.

'What are you doing here?'

The question didn't came as a surprise, exactly. They hadn't told anyone so far, but Ling just wasn't sure _how_. How did you tell someone that the peace that had settled just a few months ago could disappear any moment? That the danger they thought they'd gotten rid of hadn't completely vanished? That Ling himself wasn't even sure what that possible danger was? Although Edward's injuries didn't leave much room for doubt, Ling wanted to see with his own eyes if his assumptions were correct before jumping to conclusions.

 _'_ _What're you gonna tell him?'_

'Could ask you the same thing,' Ling said to Edward.

 _'_ _Ha! Very mature. Not suspicious at all,'_ Greed smirked.

Edward gave Ling a glare, the fire reflecting in his eyes. 'I was sent here on a mission to check out that collapsed train tunnel. They couldn't reach the train, so they sent someone from the military to see if there wasn't something more going on. Well, seems like there was. Still don't know what, though. Too dark to see.'

 _'_ _That's what we're worried about,'_ Greed commented. _'Looks like it's your turn now, prince. Good luck.'_

'We-well,' Ling began, almost saying 'we', 'I am headed for that tunnel, too.'

 _'_ _What the– I thought you weren't gonna tell him?'_

Edward frowned. 'Why?'

Ling had to think of something, and quick. That collapse… twenty-four passengers on that train, all missing now, probably dead…

'Lan Fan was on that train.' It was a terrible excuse and Ling knew it, but he hoped it would do to keep further questions at bay.

 _'_ _Of course she was,'_ Greed huffed. _'She hasn't left Xing since your return after the battle.'_

Ed's expression softened. 'Oh. Sorry to hear that.'

 _'_ _And why would she be on that train anyway? It's not like she has any connections to Briggs. Or Drachma. Won't take him long to figure that one out.'_

'Shut it,' Ling tried to grumble while coughing, facing away from Edward for a moment to make sure he wouldn't hear it. Then, turning back , he saw him fumble with his bandages. 'Does it hurt?'

Ed stopped and looked extremely uncomfortable. 'No, I… Well, yeah, a little. It's just…' He trailed off.

'You can tell me,' Ling reassured him, knowing Ed would give in eventually. After all, they'd been through a lot together. He considered him a friend and you could trust your friends, right?

Right. As if he wasn´t keeping secrets from Edward. Ling reconsidered telling him about Greed, but… No, Ed already had too much on his mind right now, he shouldn't be bothered by anything unnecessary.

'Brings back memories…' Ed mumbled. Of course it did. He'd been injured so many times while looking for a way to get his and Alphonse's body back. Ling wondered if the brothers were seeing a psychiatrist. He couldn't imagine them _not_ being traumatized after such a childhood.

They both sat in silence for a moment. Then, Edward leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes again. 'Night.'

'Goodnight, Ed.'

* * *

'You sure you're not coming with us?' Havoc asked for the third time, hoisting Ed further up his back, although he was sputtering protests, claiming he could walk if Havoc let him use one of his crutches.

'Yes, we've got unfinished business up North. Take care,' Ling said, smiling at the men who were all wrapped up in warm clothes, protecting them against the cold. The storm had passed, but the freezing wind was still present. Looking back over his shoulder, Ling waved at Edward and then both parted ways.

Neither Ed nor Mustang's men had noticed Ling was a homunculus again, even though he'd slipped sometimes, saying 'we' instead of 'I'. Best to keep it that way. He'd never taken his gloves of, blaming the cold. The real reason was to hide the ouroboros tattoo that had appeared on his hand once again.

Ed's condition had seemed to stabilize overnight, but he still needed medical care from a proper hospital. If everything went alright, they would arrive at Central within an hour or three. Ling and Greed, however, were headed in the opposite direction.

 _'_ _If only the damned railroads were open, we would've been there hours ago,'_ Greed sighed, frustrated.

'Well, that's unfortunate. They aren't.'

 _'_ _No shit, Sherlock.'_

'But the closed tracks are the reason we're here right now, so stop complaining,' Ling said, smiling.

For a few minutes, neither of them said anything and all they could hear was the crunching snow underneath their feet. Just as Ling began to wonder who this Sherlock was, a frustrated sigh was heard again.

 _'_ _If we only had ski's.'_

'We don't.'

Ling could almost feel Greed's glare as he stepped along. After a few minutes, yet another frustrated sigh was heard.

 _'_ _If we could only use-'_

'No,' Ling cut him off, still keeping up his smile. 'Since when are you so impatient?'

If the homunculus could have shrugged, he probably had. His answer, however, never came, as Ling abruptly came to a halt and buckled over, suddenly gasping for air. A series of images flashed before his eyes and he heard someone other than Greed scream inside his own head, which felt like it was going to split open. His own sentence echoed within his mind, but it wasn't Ling who was saying it this time. _Since when are you so impatient_? He saw fists, a grin, heard another scream, saw Greed's shield, smelled blood, tasted it, felt rage–

And then all of it was gone. As sudden as it had come, it was over.

'Well, that was uncalled for,' Greed panted, now in control. The flashback hadn't even lasted a few seconds, but Ling saw he was unsteady on his feet, trying to catch his breath. Greed stood still for a moment, took a few deep breaths and stretched his back. The he continued walking forward like nothing had happened.

 _'_ _When was that? I didn't recognize it,'_ Ling asked, knowing damn well he shouldn't. After a flashback like this, Greed wasn't in a particularly good mood most of the time. Well, a flashback like this… had never really happened before. It had seemed like Ling's words had triggered it, something that normally didn't happen. If you could actually call these flashbacks normal.

The only response was a grunt. He should've known.

 _'_ _Sorry, didn't catch that,'_ he prodded once more.

'It's none of your damn business!' Greed snapped, more anger in his voice than Ling had expected. Of course, the images that had just played in his head hadn't exactly been pleasant. But still… He'd seen worse, right? He'd seen Greed die. _Twice_ , for God's sake. So what about this memory had made him so upset?

 _'_ _Are you alright?'_

Greed sighed. He didn't sound alright. Actually, it sounded more like he was exhausted. His shoulders slumped a bit and he stopped walking. His grumpy mood had vanished and all Ling could see when looking at the homunculus was… What was it? Sadness? Despair, even?

'How would you feel if you just got one of your worst memories back? Hell, I don't even know if it's one of the worst, because I can't remember a damn thing. I don't know how many people I've considered friends, or loved ones, even,' Greed added, his voice low, a frown on his face.

'I don't know how many times I fought others, made them suffer, be it for bad or good causes. I don't know how many lives I've taken. Now, would you feel alright if you just –' his voice cracked and he took a ragged breath before finishing his sentence. 'If you just remembered one of those lives?'

That's it. What Ling saw when he looked at Greed. He saw defeat. Defeated by his own mind, his own memories. Greed had done something horrible in the past and was regretting it now, when it was too late to change anything about it. And Ling understood. _'I'm sorry.'_

Greed sighed once more and started walking again, a slow and unsteady pace. 'It's fine… I'm fine. You wouldn't understand and I don't expect you to. Sorry I got angry at you for nothing.'

 _'_ _It's not nothing. You're allowed to be angry.'_

'Not at you. I should… I should be thankful. You gave me the opportunity to remember, to feel, to… ' he hesitated and seemed to be choosing his words carefully. 'To live.'

Wow, was that Greed who'd just said that? Those flashbacks had more influence on his brain cells than Ling had anticipated. He was right, though. Ling had practically given up his body to share it with Greed and whether they liked it or not, they were stuck with each other.

'Without you, I'm nothing more than a stupid stone, trapped in a fucking bottle.' Greed paused to snort. 'Well, doesn't that just sound incredibly cheesy?'

Ling couldn't help but smile at that. _'Maybe if you'd left the 'fucking' out. Hate to break it to you, though, but I'm afraid you're telling the truth. You'd be even more pathetic without me–'_

'Hey!'

 _'–_ _however,_ with _me, you're as human as I am.'_

Greed stopped walking again, this time to look up at the enormous mountain that had appeared before them. At the bottom they could see movement in the form of men in uniforms, as white as the snow around them. Where the Briggs' soldiers were busy, though, there was all but snow. They were working in the midst of a mess. Big, grey rocks were scattered all around the place, blocking the entrance of a tunnel. They'd arrived.

'Thanks.'

Observing the chaos in front of them, Greed spoke up once more.

'Alright, enough chitchatting already. We've got work to do.'

* * *

 **Yes, indeed. Because I have to write the next chapter.**

 **As you've probably noticed, I don't have deadlines, I don't update every week and I don't hurry. Why not? Because I rather give you guys a (hopefully) good story instead of a lot of sloppy and unnecessary chapters. So that's that.**

 **I don't like the pacing so far, have to work on that. I also hope I haven't made too many grammar mistakes (I probably have. I'm sorry.). Oh, and if you want to hear Greed (or Troy Baker) say that secondhand smoke kills (with a sexy British accent and without spoilers for the series), you should go on YouTube and find the video titled: 'Second hand smoke, November 11 Darker Than Black'. That quote has been stuck in my head for days and I just had to sneak it into this story somehow ;)**

 **I also wanted to tell you I have not seen the 2003 series. I've seen Brotherhood (dubbed) and have read the manga recently.**

 **And, oh my gosh, thank you for reviewing! I hadn't expected so many positive comments on my first fanfiction and every single one of them made me smile. Without those, this story wouldn't have existed at all. THANK YOU! :D**

 **Thanks for reading this chapter and I hope to see you on the next one!**

 **XxX**

* * *

 **Edit: I'm sorry, but the next chapter is going to take a while, because I'm studying and taking my finals...**

 **Another edit: I AM SO SORRY! When I said it was going to take a while, I didn't mean months. I'll update as soon as possible.**


	4. Chapter 4

**There's some gore in this chapter.**

* * *

' _Okay, what do we do? I don't think they're in for some company,_ ' Ling reckoned, looking at the men who were working on the entrance of the tunnel. It was going to take a long time before any trains would be able to pass through that mountain again. The rocks were so giant that Greed wondered if even that Armstrong guy would be able to move them. He was nowhere to be seen, however, which could not be said for his sister. Her silhouette was looming over her soldiers, the Major General herself standing on top of Fort Briggs, which massive wall could easily be seen from a distance.

'Why's that?'

' _Well, for one, they didn't invite a homunculus to come nosing around._ '

True, but they didn't have to know what they were. Ling could just as easily take over and if he was as smart as he claimed to be, no one would notice as long as they wouldn't take of their gloves. If they could fool the Fullmetal shrimp, they could fool anyone.

'And second?'

' _Think, Greed._ _They're Briggs' soldiers._ '

Right. Anyone not from Briggs was a threat to Briggs.

'Well, then we just have to find another way in. It's a tunnel, after all. We can just go around and take the other entrance.'

' _Around? Over, you mean,_ ' Ling sighed. ' _That's quite a mountain, you know…_ '

They quietly approached the pile of rubble the Briggs' men were trying to remove, careful not to be seen. Two young soldiers looked like they were taking a break, both leaning against some sort of mine cart filled with rocks. A small track was set up so they would be able to transport all the debris to the Fort, where they would probably use them for… Well, for whatever you needed ordinary stones for.

One of the soldiers took his scarf off, which Greed thought was incredibly ludicrous, since he himself was almost shivering. Apparently, these guys were used to the low temperatures.

'You know if they've heard anything about Liam yet?' the soldier asked.

'Still nothing,' the other one answered. 'It's been hours since he went in there. Told him it was a bad idea. They can't get him out either, because the entrance we made for him collapsed after half an hour or so. Only Fullmetal came out in time. Nobody could convince him to see a doctor, although he was bleeding. Went straight back to Central. Stubborn kid never learns, with or without alchemy.'

The guy without a scarf shuddered, but not because of the cold. 'Yeah, I know, I was there when it happened. I swear, I heard someone laugh just before that collapse. That tunnel is cursed.'

The other man laughed. 'Cursed… You're imagining things. Come on, let's get to work.'

Both took off towards the tunnel again. Greed decided to make a run for it and get behind a large boulder from where they could start their climb over the mountain.

'Heard that, Ling?' he mumbled, when they were out of earshot as well as out of sight.

'' _Course I did. Cursed, eh? Well, he's not that far off, if our assumptions are correct._ '

'Trust me, they are. The guy said he'd heard a laugh. Now, that's not suspicious at all…'

' _Let's get a move on, then, before anyone else goes in,_ ' Ling said, worry creeping into his voice.

'Yeah…' Greed began, 'About that…' He'd just thought of something.

' _Don't tell me you're too lazy to hike over this thing,_ ' Ling said sternly. ' _Just get it over with and –_ '

'No, no, no, that's not what I mean. I just know, er.. a shortcut,' Greed said, trying to sound as positive as possible. In the meanwhile, he took his coat off.

' _A shortcut? What are you up to? Hey, don't do anything rash! Whoa, what the –_ ' Ling got cut off once again, as Greed had just transformed to their fully armored form: The Ultimate Shield. He lashed out at the mountain, causing the rocks to crush and shatter everywhere. He didn't stop there, however. No, he just kept going and going, making a path that lead to the tunnel in a straight line. After a few chaotic moments Ling decided to speak up.

' _Okay, okay, I got it!_ ' He smirked. ' _So you_ are _too lazy to hike._ '

'Hey, if it works, it works. It will go faster this way, right?' Greed stopped for a moment, catching his breath, a wide grin spread across his face. 'Besides, I'm not planning on freezing to death up there, so this is the best solution for everyone. Not as cold, faster and far more fun. This thing comes in handy sometimes!'

' _I thought you didn't want to ruin our looks with that shield?_ '

Greed thought Ling was a real idiot sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually. 'No one's up here. No one will see us.'

It was silent for a moment. ' _I see you._ '

Greed let out an exasperated sound. 'For fuck's– Let's just go.' As he started slashing again, he decided Ling really was an idiot. So Ling had basically just stated he thought they were hot. Well, no surprise there. And he didn't even actually _see_ him, unless you counted a floating head made out of souls as an appearance. Greed didn't like to think of himself as that. He was more than that, better than that.

After half an hour or so, they had gotten pretty deep into the mountain already, but still had a few metres to go. Since the path they (or rather just Greed) had dug was perfectly straight, they had enough light to be able to see. Not that there was much to look at, since all they were able to see at this point were rocks.

When a firm blow on a particularly big rock resulted in an enormous cloud of dust, Greed stumbled forward, still slashing, only to discover that the ground had disappeared under his feet. With a yelp, he fell down. While he had expected to hit the ground, he landed on something softer instead. Trying to comprehend that he'd just fallen right into the train tunnel, he heard Ling clearing his throat.

' _Er, Greed? Please, stand up._ '

As he obliged and stretched his back, he saw what he'd landed on. It was a body.

'What the fuck?' he whispered.

Because it wasn't 'just' a dead body. From what he could see through all the dust and by the weak light that came from the hole he'd just made, there were at the very least twenty of them, scattered all around the place as if they had been trying to run away from their attacker. The train was nowhere to be seen; although this was expected. The tunnel went deep into the mountain, after all. The blood, however, was everywhere and looked like it was caused by –

' _Stab wounds. Like Ed's._ '

'Right,' Greed muttered, keeping his voice low, just to be sure. 'Better keep that Shield for a while.'

' _Yeah, and we should seal the entrance we just made. I'd rather not end up like them._ '

'And how do you suppose we do that? No, you know what? You deal with that one,' Greed said grumpily, as he let himself slip back so Ling automatically took over.

'Hey!'

' _What? It's way up there! Now it's your turn to do something, I just dug a whole tunnel!_ ' Greed knew he was just being lazy at this point, but he liked to mess with Ling every once in a while.

'Yes, and you just had to make it so that we'd enter this damn place from the ceiling!'

' _That's not my fault! How could I know we were above the fucking thing? Now, keep your voice down and do something about that light!_ '

Ling sighed, put his hands by his sides and stared up at the source of light high above him, before simply saying: 'Using what?'

' _How should I know?_ '

'Well, if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.' Silence followed. 'Then I'm afraid we don't have any choice but to look for something that can cover up that hole. Let's investigate this place and pray their killer doesn't show up.'

' _Yet._ '

Ling walked away from the light, into the shadows. Greed noticed that the temperature in the tunnel was a lot colder than it had been outside. The tunnel was silent except for the faint pat of water dropping from the ceiling to the stone floor. Something was gleaming in the faint light; it was a large metal plate.

' _Looks like it's from the train. Doesn't look too damaged, though,_ ' Greed said, wondering more than ever if the whole collapse had really been an accident or not.

Ling seemed to have an idea. 'Hey, what if we use this to block out the light? If we could put it up there…'

He took the plate from the ground, wiped off some of the dust and started to bend the edges, until it was almost the size of the hole. He moved a boulder that had fallen down with them and climbed on it. He still had to stand on his toes, reaching for the ceiling. Then he placed the piece of metal right above him, covering up the hole and covering them in darkness.

'That should do it. Now, let's take a look around, shall we?' Ling said. With their ability to see perfectly even in low light conditions or total darkness, investigating the scene wasn't a problem for them.

' _Jeez, even I can smell that_ ,' Greed choked, disgusted. The smell coming from the bodies was nauseating and the gruesome sight of guts and blood everywhere didn't help, either. Clearly, the train travellers had been dead for a few days already. A little further down the tunnel, they could see a Briggs' soldier, but this one hadn't been dead for so long. His blood wasn't as dark as that of the other bodies, but he was murdered in the same horrifying way nonetheless.

'Must be the one they were talking about earlier,' Ling muttered. 'Shit. It's worse than I'd expected.'

' _Told you_ ,' Greed said, but there was no triumph to be found in his voice. ' _Wait, is that who I think it is?_ '

It was. Her pink, expensive looking clothes and jewellery were stained with her own blood. Both her eyes and mouth were open, her expression still capturing the surprise she'd felt when she had looked in the eyes of her murderer.

It was Mrs. Bradley.

* * *

 **I bet you know where I'm going with this...**

 **Alright, so this chapter took me over two months (that's a lie), because I was really busy (also a lie). Sorry. There is** ** _some_** **truth in this, though. Although I have been a little lazy with writing, I also had my final exams. Luckily, I passed with good grades and will be attending an art academy next year so I can become an art teacher! :D *happiness***

 **After the exams, I just did** ** _nothing_** **. I'm still doing nothing, to be honest. Anime and books/fanfictions are pretty much my life right now. I bought a Hetalia shirt, a GreedLing shirt (duh, how could I not? Now I'm a walking spoiler *evil laugh*) and an FMA pocket watch, which inspired me to write a oneshot (Time), so please check that out if you're interested. I also made a twitter account (WhiteRaven98) and Todd Haberkorn (voice of Ling) replied to one of my tweets! *More happiness***

 **Okay, I'll shut up now.**

 **Thank you so much for reading this chapter and reviewing the last one!**

 **xXxXxXx**

 **P.S. For the Guest that was asking me to please please please update: I really appreciate the fact that you seem to love this story so much, but I can't magically write faster if I read those messages. If you have any ideas or tips, I'd love to hear them, though! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

'Well, this is a surprise.'

As Ling turned around at the sound, he saw a little boy standing in the middle of the tracks. He must've been growing insanely fast, because he looked exactly the same as last time, except for a circular mark on his forehead. His voice was a little hoarser than Ling had expected it to be and his clothes didn't have a fleck of crimson on them, which made him look very out of place in his environment. He didn't seem affected by the sight of all the gore at the slightest, on the contrary: a grin was spread across his face.

'Can't say the same about seeing you here, Selim Bradley,' Ling said, his voice echoing in the tunnel. 'Or should I say Pride?'

The boy seemed to seriously consider these words, before his grin widened. 'Pride, you say?'

' _Ling, be careful._ '

Careful, indeed. Ling hadn't be able to sense Pride's qi and even now, while they were facing each other, Pride didn't seem to have a qi like the other homunculi had. Was Pride still a homunculus or had his and Greed's assumptions of him been wrong? His qi-sense wasn't failing, was it?

The boy didn't move. 'Ah, I see,' he said calmly, observing. 'I thought all the homunculi had been destroyed. Yet, that armour can only belong to Greed. Am I correct?'

'What if you are?'

'Then it would be a lot harder to kill you, wouldn't it?' Pride deadpanned, making it sound as if they were having a polite conversation. 'I assume you're here to put a stop to me?'

'Why did you kill all these people? They never did anything to you.'

'No, they didn't. In fact, I didn't even know most of them,' Pride said, now looking nonchalantly around him at the chaos he had created. 'You see, my motive wasn't as sophisticated as revenge or anything of those trivial matters. No, the reason I killed all these people was because I could. It's that simple.'

Ling didn't know what to say. He hadn't exactly known what to expect from the boy, but if anything, it hadn't been this. Pride didn't seem to notice Ling's surprise and continued speaking.

'Of course, when I realised what had happened to this body, which now only contained a single soul, presumably the strongest one, I knew that there had to be a way to… Well, I wouldn't say 'return to my old form',' he chuckled. 'But certainly, there had to be a way to work my way up to a more… enjoyable form.'

He had started to walk slowly to the wall on his right while speaking, and was now leaning against it, examining his nails. Ling didn't interrupt, wanting to know the motive behind the murders.

'It started out with small animals,' Pride continued. 'Insects, birds… and now humans, naturally. Every souls counts, am I right? Every single one of them was- no, _is_ a step closer to power.' He paused, looking up at Ling. 'But of course, I'm not the only one looking for power, now, am I? As it turns out I'm not the only homunculus around anymore, which makes things a little more interesting. Although I do enjoy the company, I prefer to work alone, as I always have.'

He paused again, observing Ling.

'I assume your plan was to just kill me?,' he asked. 'Because that's a little naive, you know? Sure, blocking out the light did the trick for now. I've got nothing to cast a shadow on,' he huffed. 'Easy to solve, really…'

Pride reached with his hand in his pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a matchbook.

Ling heard Greed gasp. ' _Fuck, the son of a bitch has matches?_ '

'A little advice,' Pride said carelessly, before striking the match against his teeth, lighting it so it illuminated his face from beneath. Shadows were starting to crawl around them. 'Always be prepared.'

The next moment, Ling felt tiny hands, cold against his armoured body, quickly working their way up to hold him in a strong grip.

'You see, Greed,' Pride said, raising his voice to make himself audible over Ling's surprised yelp, 'I know I can't stab through that shield of yours – really nice trick by the way – but you realise there are other ways to hurt someone, don't you? If I'd want to, I could easily… break you.'

To demonstrate his point, Ling was suddenly turned horizontal in mid-air, the shadows holding his arms at his sides to prevent him from defending himself. He felt a tugging at both his feet and his head, and the next moment he felt his back slowly bending backwards. With utter horror, Ling realised that Pride had meant his words quite literal. Oh shit, he was going to snap his back. He would not be able to regenerate when held in that position. Smart move.

' _No, no he can't – you can't – Ling, switch with me!_ ' Greed stammered frantically.

He wouldn't. Ling was not going to back out of this one and show Pride that he wasn't the only soul inhabiting his body, basically inviting Pride to use that knowledge against him somehow. Besides, he could endure some pain. He had proven that already by getting a philosopher's stone into his blood _twice_ , which hadn't been very pleasant experiences.

When he heard – and felt – his back cracking in protest, however, he knew that this was not going to be a fun one either. Pride seemed to be enjoying himself. Having thrown the match aside, lighting the body of his own mother in the process – the little psychopath – he let his shadows bend Ling's body agonisingly slowly.

' _I've had worse, you stubborn little–_ ' Greed let out a frustrated cry ' _– just switch already!_ '

Ling clenched his teeth and tried to struggle against his restrains, but quickly found out that it was no use. His vision flashed white with every little snap he felt. And god, did it hurt. The pain drowned out Greed's pleas to switch with him and he almost gave in, but he kept reminding himself that would show his weakness to Pride.

'So…' he heard Pride say, who had come closer and seemed to observe him as if he was the subject of some sort of cruel experiment, which, in a sense, he seemed to be. 'Does it hurt more when I do this?'

Then he twisted Ling's body, as if wringing out a towel. Ling heard himself scream and the next moment he saw only black, the pain taking over every inch of his body, his mind, everything. He gasped, desperately trying to get air in his lungs, but the last thing he noticed before he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness was a scream coming from within his own mind.

* * *

'…you there? Ling?'

He woke up suddenly, the sound of the chaos of souls around him rushing to him at once.

'Please, Ling, are you there?'

He cleared his throat. 'Er… I think so.'

'Oh, thank God,' Greed sighed, his voice full of relief. 'I thought you'd– I was afraid you–'

'I'm fine, Greed,' Ling interrupted. 'What happened? Where's Pride?'

'Don't worry, he can't hear me,' Greed said, his voice sounding a little higher than usual, which caused Ling to worry.

'That's not what I was asking. What's going on, Greed?'

'Er…' Greed hesitated. 'He sorta… trapped us. In the train.'

Ling almost wanted to ask if he couldn't just smash his way out, but he supposed Greed had already tried that. He also noticed they weren't wearing the armour anymore. Greed answered his unasked question.

'Can't bust out. Used up our energy to regenerate.'

Ling nodded in understanding. 'So were stuck,' he said. It wasn't a question.

'Yep, we're stuck.'

They were both silent for a moment. Ling tried to think of ways to get out, but settled upon the thought that the only option was to wait until the Briggs' soldiers would reach the tunnel, as long as it might take.

'What happened after I blacked out?' Ling asked.

'Well, you were suddenly gone. Completely gone,' Greed said, frowning.

'I meant with Pride.'

'Oh,' Greed said, a slight blush appearing on his face. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around at nothing in particular. Not that there was anything to see: it was pitch black all around them. 'He escaped. Threw us in here when while I took over – apparently not fast enough – and made the tunnel collapse even further, right onto the train.'

Ling frowned. 'Then how do you know he escaped?'

'I saw him pry open the entrance we made while he was snapping us in fucking half.'

'Right. About that–' Ling began awkwardly.

'Why don't you ever listen? I told you to switch places with me. I've had worse and you know that. I could've handled it with ease,' Greed snapped.

'Well, I'm terribly sorry I saved you the trouble,' Ling said mockingly. 'And you don't have to keep that up, you know?'

'Keep what up?'

'You could have ''handled it with ease''? Who are you trying to fool here? We're not with as many souls as we were back then. Accept that we're not that strong anymore!'

Greed crossed his arms and scowled.

'Cat got your tongue, now?'

'Shut up.'

'Fine.'

The silence that followed the next couple of hours made the darkness even more suffocating.

* * *

 **Sorry, I have no good excuse why this is so late. Life, maybe... Artschool, mostly... And I got sucked back into the Hetalia fandom and started writing at least ten new fics. Oops.**

 **I will, however, finish what I started and I don't care how long it will take. I promise to finish this.**

 **I hope to be able to upload another chapter soon, but... I'm afraid you know me by now O.o**

 **I'll try my best!**

 **Thank you for reviewing last chapter and for following and favouriting this story. Every time I get a notification it makes my day. Thank you so much!**

 **XxX**


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